All For Love
by Joywriter
Summary: CONTAINS BOOK 7 SPOILERS. A cathartic piece I wrote, as I needed closure between Harry and another character that wasn't addressed in the books.


WARNING - CONTAINS BOOK 7 SPOLIERS

A little something I wrote July 22, the day I finished Deathly Hallows. I needed some closure between Harry and Snape, so here is my take on it. I was very emotional when I wrote this, so if it seems a tad -weird- in places I hope you can forgive me.

Thanks to everyone who has left reviews on my other fics!

**All For Love**

It was later that morning while Harry was standing at the top of the tower that a few thoughts finally settled upon him. Voldemort was finally gone – from him, and from society – forever. He could no longer tear apart families with his refined brand of supremacist hatred.

Harry stood overlooking the grounds and his eyes fell on the Whomping Willow that concealed the entrance to the shrieking shack.

Snape was still there.

The collection of memories he had given to Harry in his final moments flashed before his eyes. Snape and his mother, as mere children, had formed a friendship. He had seen the way he had looked at her through the years. He loved her immensely.

_He loved her enough to protect me,_ Harry thought. _The son of an enemy, the son of the only person who ever saw the good in him._

Harry felt a tight constricting in his chest and his eyes began to fill with tears. _He loved her_, he thought. He still found it so hard to believe. Snape, the meanest and cruelest of professors, the harshest of personalities, had loved his mother unfailingly since the tender age of nine. This man, not more than a year ago, had been on his knees in Harry's house, weeping for Lily.

Finally, Harry understood. He could appreciate why Snape had been so cruel to him. Harry had always believed Snape was akin to Voldemort.

But he was wrong.

Harry wiped his eyes and remembered back seven years earlier when he had found the Mirror of Erised. He and Snape both wanted the one thing that had been ripped away from them that was impossible to get back, and he felt certain he knew what Snape would see as he gazed into it.

Harry wondered if he had finally found peace.

At that thought, he knew what he had to do.

He ran along the corridors until he reached the sunlit grounds. Without slowing down, he ran to Hagrid's hut. He knocked on the door and was delighted when Hagrid answered.

''Ello, Harry! We all owe you so much –'

'Will you meet me in Hogsmeade at the shrieking Shack?' Harry cut across him.

'When?' Hagrid asked, looking puzzled.

'Now, and bring a black sheet.'

Hagrid eyed Harry suspiciously.

'Why?'

'I need your help with something important. I can't explain right now.'

He was silent for a moment. 'All righ'. I'll be there,' he consented.

Harry left quickly and set off for the Whomping Willow. Levitating a branch as he had the night before, he pressed the knot on the tree's trunk and disappeared into the earthen opening at the base.

He crawled along the damp passage, digging his nails into the dirt as he went. After several minutes, a thin beam of light came into view up ahead. He continued to struggle toward it, hitting his shoulders and head on the low dirt ceiling.

A lifeless booted foot could be seen as he emerged from the passage and into the room where Snape lay, his dark eyes lifeless and staring into nothing.

The floor was stained in what must have surely been all of Snape's blood. It pooled around him and had spread like a dark crimson flower beneath him. His neck and hands were covered in red so deep it was almost black.

Harry rounded Snape and cautiously knelt down by Snape's face. He stared into the eyes of the man he believed was his enemy, the man who, in his final moments, had given him an incredible gift.

After a moment, Harry took Snape's hand in his, the blood now dry. It was so cold.

'Thank you, sir, for what you did tonight,' Harry began, feeling foolish but oddly compelled to speak to him even though he knew Snape couldn't hear him. 'Thank you for all you've done to protect me and all you did to try and save my family. I know you had no way of knowing who the prophecy meant, and I forgive you.'

Harry began to cry again, and he squeezed the dead man's hand, gazing into the eyes of the man he had hated for so long. 'I'm sorry you had to suffer so much. And I'm sorry for not trusting you. Thank you for helping me in the forest so I could get that sword. I heard you there that night, but I dismissed the idea that anyone was near.' Harry sighed and continued, fighting tears. 'I know you loved her, my mother. And I know why your dying words were what they were. Everyone has always said it, that I have her eyes…

'I'm sorry that it has to end like this. You didn't deserve to die, and you didn't need to die, but if anything, I hope you have finally found solace, and that you can see her now.'

Harry extended his free hand and closed Snape's eyes. 'Rest in peace, sir.'

Harry got up and went to the front window to see if Hagrid had arrived. He was outside, waiting for Harry. He was holding a folded sheet.

Wiping his eyes, Harry opened the door.

'There y'are. I was wonderin' where you'd got to.'

'Thanks for coming, Hagrid, I need your help.'

'Blimey, Harry, wha's happened?' he asked, concerned when he saw that Harry had been crying.

'Nothing, come on.' He turned and led Hagrid into the room where Snape was.

Hagrid's eyes flew open in shock as he observed the scene in the room.

'Professor Snape!' Hagrid said in surprise.

He turned to look at Harry.

'I need your help getting his body back up to the castle, the way you helped Dumbledore… that night.'

Hagrid nodded.

'He deserves a proper burial. Not to be left here.'

'All that stuff you said was true? About Snape? About him being good? About him being sweet on your mother?'

'Yes,' said Harry, 'but he was more than sweet on her. She was pretty much the reason he breathed.'

Hagrid's black eyes began to water. 'It's good to hear yeh say that, Harry. That Snape is a decent fellow. Bit harsh though, wasn't he?

'He had every right to be. He's suffered a lot.'

'I knew he didn't hate you, Harry.'

'Maybe not hate, but he still didn't like me. Everything he did was for her. Everything. Even looking out for me.'

There was silence as they shared a moment with Snape's body.

'Let's take him home.'

Hagrid wrapped Snape in the black cloth and together, Harry and Hagrid brought Snape's body back to the castle.

It was two days later, after the funeral. Snape had been entombed beside Dumbledore in an identical white tomb.

The breeze blew sweetly through the summer air as Harry made his way down to the tombs of two of his greatest protectors and allies. The wisest and the bravest men he had known were here.

Harry stared at the tombs for several moments. Finally he approached Snape's and, drawing his wand, uttered _'Summitto Lilium!'_ at the ground around the stone. Instantly several white flowers sprung up from the earth.

Harry smiled as they danced gently in the wind.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were watching him, waiting on a nearby hill. With one last look at Snape's tomb, he turned away and began his trek to them, and as he did, an odd thought came into his mind with a corresponding swoop in his stomach. He imagined he saw Snape's face lighting up in a brilliant smile as the figure of Lily Potter emerged from a dense white mist. With outstretched arms, they embraced, and Snape let out a sigh of relief as rivulets of tears streaked his face. James, Remus, Tonks, and Sirius appeared as well, all smiling, and together, they vanished into eternity.

Harry smiled at the thought, which took him back to something that Dumbledore had said when he was suspended between life and death – _'of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'_

**NOTE:** Summitto – Latin for 'make grow'  
_Lilium (as in Lilium longiforum)_ - The Easter Lily


End file.
